Tire Choices

[Bostonian1976]

I'm thinking about new tires - what are some good choices?

There's the Goodyear MT/R

what else? I have 15's also - would it be a good idea to upgrade to 16's?

[Jeff Aronson]

I've had great luck with BF Goodrich All-Terrain M&S. They were recommended years ago by Mike Hopwood and Mark Letorney, and I've not been disappointed. The first set went 40,000 miles with a lot of highway driving. They were also great in off road conditions, in winter snow or summer mud.

Then came a set of Coopers that were strong, gave me a little less longevity and a little less off road performance [or else I'm not that good off road anymore :)].

So I returned to the same Goodrich tires for my latest set. So far this winter, they've done a great job. The Maine Winter Romp is this weekend, so if - no, when - I get stuck, I can blame the tires :)

I switched from 15" to 16" wheels many years ago and I am glad for the change. The smaller wheels and tires let you accelerate a little faster but they turn more at speed. If the motor is strong on the car, the 16" wheel serves more like an overdrive. If you switch wheels, you will need to change speedometers, too, or live with an inaccurate reading of the blazing speed of your II-A!

Jeff

[Bostonian1976]

I've had great luck with BF Goodrich All-Terrain M&S. They were recommended years ago by Mike Hopwood and Mark Letorney, and I've not been disappointed. The first set went 40,000 miles with a lot of highway driving. They were also great in off road conditions, in winter snow or summer mud.

Then came a set of Coopers that were strong, gave me a little less longevity and a little less off road performance [or else I'm not that good off road anymore :)].

So I returned to the same Goodrich tires for my latest set. So far this winter, they've done a great job. The Maine Winter Romp is this weekend, so if - no, when - I get stuck, I can blame the tires :)

I switched from 15" to 16" wheels many years ago and I am glad for the change. The smaller wheels and tires let you accelerate a little faster but they turn more at speed. If the motor is strong on the car, the 16" wheel serves more like an overdrive. If you switch wheels, you will need to change speedometers, too, or live with an inaccurate reading of the blazing speed of your II-A!

Jeff

thanks Jeff! Well I'm actually about 4-5 mph OVER my actual speed at the moment, so my guess is that I already have a 16" speedometer?

[JimCT]

Running 255/86R 16's ont the ambulance and 235's on the beater RR, work great in snow ice mud....and you can not beat the price.

[Tim Smith]

Some pretty good info about tires has been posted before. I hope this helps.

http://www.roversnorth.com/forums/search.php?searchid=26495

[Jim-ME]

I'm running 33X9.50X15 BFG ATs front MTs rear and hate the MTs. They are horrible in packed snow and ice which I drive a lot in. I personally don't see the need for 16 inch rims as long as I can can the 33" BFGs that at narrower.
Jim

[yorker]

It depends entirely how you use your LR. BFG All Terrains are great for most people. I purchase a Set because everyone said they were the best thing since sliced bread, they were great on road, good in snow, and worthless in the mud we have here. The first night I put them on I took them out and promptly got stuck about 50 yards down a logging road I always offroaded on with no problem with my old McCreary Bias Ply tires. Later I got disgusted and gave them to my brother- they worked great for him as long as he stayed out of the mud. He looked pretty stupid at the Guy Fawkes ralley- F+R axles locked and he literally could not get out of the lower pasture. The truck just sat there with all four wheels spinning! Muddy sidehills were another scary proposition. They simply choked up with mud far too easily and became slicks. Tire chains became a necessity.

So IF you do any serious offroading somewhere where there is mud consider a tire with larger voids- a mud type tire with sipes would be a good solution. If you decide to get All Terrains then seriously consider www.tirechains.com (http://www.tirechains.com)
:thumb-up:

I'm not a huge fan of the Trxus but it is worthy od consideration- it fits somewhere between the all terrains and the more aggressive mud tires.

ymmv

[Bostonian1976]

hmm my driving is all over the place.

I do sand on the Cape, mud/wet trails up in New Hampshire, a lot of road in between, and snow in the winter now.

What about those Goodyear MT/R's?

[yorker]

Well do you want a modern tire or an old fashioned one? What is your $ range? Size you are looking for?

Traditional (bias ply):
http://www.stausaonline.com/light-truck/super-traxion.html
http://www.stausaonline.com/Images/light-truck/spr-traxion-A.jpg

http://www.stausaonline.com/Images/light-truck/spr-traxion-C.jpg

Don't get military NDTs or NDCCs


for a modern tire
KevinNY had a Cooper he was fond of and he uses his truck on road and off, maybe he'll tell which model he uses

[sven]

Cooper Discoverer S/T. They are a very good tire. They fall in the "better than a A/T, almost as good as an M/T" catagory.

[msggunny]

I will have to agree with the comments about the BFG A/T's, they are good for everything but mud. Especially if you have sticky clay, it just packs on and makes for 4 huge "mud" tires, literaly.

I have run BFG A/T's on my jeep cherokee and toyota 4runner but they didnt see as much off road as my Series. I am running BFG Trac Edge's on the SIII, but they dont make those anymore :mad: . When they finally go, i will get something agressive but not too soft. I dont have to deal with snow here so its not a big deal.

What i want to do eventually is have a set of high milage street tires and a set of off road tires for it. Swap on a set of MT's for when i go out to play and keep the non agressive tires for everyday driving.

[JimCT]

http://www.intercotire.com/piclib/590.jpg

Voids for mud and siped for snow and ice.

[msggunny]

http://www.intercotire.com/piclib/590.jpg

Voids for mud and siped for snow and ice.

Those may be my next set, but i have heard some horror stories about how hard they are to ballance, out of round, etc.

[Bostonian1976]

how hard do those 'super traxion' tires ride? I love the classic look of them since they seem close to what came on Rovers originally - are there major downfalls?

[leafsprung]

http://www.pangolin4x4.com/merc80s/merc80s2.jpg


They are pretty much what you would expect from cheap bias ply tires.

[Bostonian1976]

http://www.pangolin4x4.com/merc80s/merc80s2.jpg


They are pretty much what you would expect from cheap bias ply tires.

great truck!

having run radials all my life, I don't know that I'd know what to expect. I'd assume hard-riding....

[leafsprung]

Just do a google search for bias ply tires will tell you everything youd ever want to know about the pros and cons and construction differences.

[DRTPOOR]

Lookup treadwright on google. I ordered a set of their re-tread tires for the first time a few years back. Ran them ever since on all of my trucks. They have a pattern in a 235-85-16 that looks like the dunlop mud rover. If you use your LR for all around everything kind of driving they work great. I have them on my Series III and my Disco. My friend runs them on his D110 and another on his Disco. Some may not like the idea of a re-tread tire but I think they are worth the cheap price you will pay for them. I used to run the same size BFG Mud Terrains on all of my vehicles and for the price of the retreads you cant go wrong. Just my opinion?

[Firemanshort]

Scott - Did you take the Dunlops off the "Highlander" and put on re-treads?

Firemanshort
(Past owner of the "Highlander")

[JimCT]

Use Equal balancing powder rahter than weights that get knocked off anyhow.

[KevinNY]

6mm plastic BB's work better than equal, don't clump if they get damp, don't require special valves, and cost less.:thumb-up:

[greenmeanie]

6mm plastic BB's work better than equal, don't clump if they get damp, don't require special valves, and cost less.:thumb-up:

Care to elaborate on this idea? I've heard of it before and want to use it on my 101. I'm about to put on a new set of 9.00X16 Denman bar grips that I got a deal on. Roughly what quantity would you use for a fairly heavy, out of balance tyre?

Cheers
Gregor

[yorker]

Airsoft BBs,

http://www.innovativebalancing.com/BigTirechart.htm

http://4x4trailhunters.com/article.php?id=18

http://www.colorado4x4.org/vbb/showthread.php?t=55541

[Bostonian1976]

Woulld 135 apiece be a good deal for bfg at's? 235-85-16

[DRTPOOR]

Mr. fireman short:

I finally sold the old rig. Never intended on parting with it but came across another opportunity that I needed the money for. It is the same year, 1973, and an original unmolested NAS 88'. Couldn’t pass it up. I will send you some pictures when I get it out of my garage. Going through the normal things a 35 year old vehicle needs thats been sitting for the past 20 years.

Scott

[uralrover]

I prefer the enourmous durrability of my Bias Ply 7.50X16's. But, The type of tyre I run Is a preference. I've found that they are particularily interesting in the heavy snow of Upstate NY. I Replaced My Dunlop Mud Rovers that actually dry rotted from age before the tread wore out with Sygma's. Huge side bitters, great digging ability and louder then hell on the highway. The Treads an inch deep and decent center traction to help push out slush and snow enabling them to clear quickly. Did I mention they were loud on the highway. Not the greatest tire for everyday use but nearly indestructable with there 8-ply rating and heavy rubber construction. Use them off road and in the forest over stumps without fear of being damaged. Great in the creek beds and overall perform well. But, there loud enough on the highway they drowned out the drone of the Series Petrol engine at better then 60mph.
Running Firestone 31X10.50X15 All-terrains on the 15 inch rims and found them better in the ice but lacking in the heavy off roading capability. Also $70 more expensive then my bias tyres, so use them only when really neccessary. Far more comfortable then the Bias tyres though and quieter. Due to the simular overall diameter didn't need to switch out the speedometers when I change tires. So Need, COmfort and Budget all played there role. I just like the Bias tyres better....